Finally, Sessions takes on ‘the culture of leaks’

Attorney General Jeff “beleaguered” Sessions, now secure in his job, has moved to the real problem festering like an infected wart on Donald Trump’s ugly presidency. “This nation must end the culture of leaks,” Sessions said.

Amen.

The AG announced that the FBI had created a new counterintelligence unit to deal with a “staggering number of leaks.” The DOJ is pursuing three times as many leak investigations as the Obama administration, the announcement said, according to the New York Times.

“I strongly agree with the president and condemn in the strongest terms the staggering number of leaks,” he said. The announcement by Mr. Sessions comes 10 days after President Trump publicly accused him of being “very” weak on pursuing these investigations in a post on Twitter.

A lightheaded sense of irony swept over me as I read about how Trump “has been bedeviled by leaks” from one of the chief newspapers specializing in obtaining and printing those leaks. It’s really astounding that the NYT can, with a straight face, report this.

Before the investigation gets too far, the NYT and its consigliere in leaking, the Washington Post, will surely empty their grab bag of (not necessarily illicit, as NYT was careful to note) carefully curated dirt and mud on every embarrassing, compromising, and damaging word spoken at the Dump White House.

The NYT is worried they might end up on the other side of the leaky pipe, warning employees of possible infiltrators.

In the end, the press will take the very low road, claiming that leaks are ethical for me, but not for thee. Watch them lawyer up about First Amendment protections, the sacrosanct immunity for safeguarding source identities, and all that “we’re the press!” stuff. Yes, it’s important to have a free press.

But it’s also important to rid the government of a true Fifth Column that is working to dismantle and damage the executive branch, and its head, the President of the United States. It doesn’t matter whether you love or hate Donald Trump the man. The office is not to be made into a sieve of leaks and rumors.

Leaking–especially classified–information damages more than just Trump. It damages America.

4 Comments

I’m kind of flabbergasted. That “first amendment stuff”? Really? Guess how Hitler started? He censored the Press. If a respected newspaper wants to turn itself into a tabloid, it’s their business. No newspaper or any other media outlet is obligated to make the president look good. The reason Trump gets bad press is because Trump is a filthy individual who spews garbage, lies and assorted incoherent ramblings and guess what…it WILL make it into the news. When people act as if the press has an obligation to protect the president from ridicule, we have lost as a nation and are headed toward tyranny. This has left a REALLY bad taste in my mouth for the Federalist Party. Other than leaking classified secrets, reporters are free to report on anything they choose without government interference. If Trump wants bad press to stop, he should stop acting like an idiot. Then they’d have nothing to report, would they?

First, you misquoted me. Second, you misquoted me out of context. Third, you attributed a pretext to my words that I never meant. Here’s what I actually wrote:

In the end, the press will take the very low road, claiming that leaks are ethical for me, but not for thee. Watch them lawyer up about First Amendment protections, the sacrosanct immunity for safeguarding source identities, and all that “we’re the press!” stuff. Yes, it’s important to have a free press.

But it’s also important to rid the government of a true Fifth Column that is working to dismantle and damage the executive branch, and its head, the President of the United States. It doesn’t matter whether you love or hate Donald Trump the man. The office is not to be made into a sieve of leaks and rumors.

I take the First Amendment and press protections very seriously. But they should not be used to protect people who committed actual felonies with a political purpose. These leakers are not hero patriots, they are political assassins. The press has plenty of stuff to publish about Trump (for whom I could never be accused of cheerleading), without resorting to these kinds of tactics.

As for the Federalist Party, I do not speak for it. Although I feel fairly confident many in the party would agree with my sentiments, there is room for differing opinion. I can’t even call it “dissent” because the ethos of the Federalist Party is that everyone (including the press) is entitled to an unrestricted voice. But the rule of law and the proper functions of the executive branch should not be impeded or permanently damaged by an organized effort to use the press as a political weapon.

3 migrant caravan claims Jim Acosta made to President Trump that have been debunked… by the migrant caravans

CNN’s Jim Acosta has been at the center of the news cycle for 12 days. It’s not his reporting that landed him there. He’s the center of attention after the Secret Service suspended his hard pass to the White House. His pass is back and most seem to be moving on from the story. But something has been lost in the mix. The statements he made while badgering the President on November 7 were spoken with authority and certainty.

Less than two weeks later, all three of his claims have been proven wrong by the migrant caravans themselves.

“They’re hundred of miles away, though. They’re hundreds and hundreds of miles away.”

Around 3,000 migrants arrived in the last few days, doubling the total number of migrants waiting to be processed at the San Ysidro border crossing to 6000. Thousands more are expected in the coming days.

More than 500 criminals are traveling with the migrant caravan that’s massed on the other side of a San Diego border crossing, homeland security officials said Monday afternoon.

The revelation was made during a conference call with reporters, with officials asserting that “most of the caravan members are not women and children”. They claimed the group is mostly made up of single adult or teen males and that the women and children have been pushed to the front of the line in a bid to garner sympathetic media coverage.

By now, any thinking person regardless of political ideology should realize Jim Acosta is an idiot. In the short time he held the mic at the press conference, he made three debunked statements. Journalists are supposed to expose the truth, not spread lies.

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Fred Savage owns Deadpool in Once Upon a Deadpool trailer

I’ll admit, I didn’t even know this was a thing. When I heard about it, I assumed it was a spoof, probably put out by Ryan Reynolds to catch a few Christmas laughs. I was wrong.

Once Upon a Deadpool is a new edit of Deadpool 2 made with a PG-13 rating. Fox has been pushing for Reynolds to do a PG-13 version for over a decade, but the star has refused until now. He had two requirements. First, he Fox to donate money from the movie to a charity of Reynold’s choice. Which did he choose? A charity Fox is referring to as “Fudge Cancer,” though the charity’s real name would be better served in the R-rated version of Deadpool.

The second requirement is that Reynolds needed permission to kidnap Fred Savage.

Reynolds got both of his wishes and Once Upon a Deadpool was born. It’s due for a limited engagement next month.

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Legislators tell Allen West: Next version of First Step Act will cut loopholes

Last week, a handful of conservatives, including Lt. Col. Allen West and Conservative Review’s Daniel Horowitz, went after the bipartisan First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill that has the backing of the President and many conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Our complaint: why would the GOP support a bill that releases violent criminals and illegal immigrants?

According to legislative proponents of the bill, protections and benefits for both of these groups of felons have been eliminated in the next version of the bill that will reach the Senate floor. They reached out to West over the weekend to let them know they heard the concerns and are addressing them.

The First Step Act is supported by many conservatives and law enforcement groups, including the Fraternal Order of Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National District Attorneys Association. There are other proposals offered by those on the far left under the same banner of “criminal justice reform” that would release people from prison without regard to the danger they pose, including illegal immigrants and serious violent offenders. We must remember that there are some folks who are, well, as the ol’ folks would say, “just bad.” Additionally, some left-wing professors even propose abolishing all prisons partly based on their notion that the system is racist in nature. Hmm, I tend to believe that skin color or race has nothing to do with a person deciding to break the law. I just do not want us to go down the path of having criminals believe that there are no consequences, ramifications, for their actions and behaviors.

The legislators echoed our concerns and said the version that is currently available doesn’t reflect the changes that cut the loopholes. They say it will be impossible for these two groups – serious violent offenders and criminal illegal immigrants – to get the benefits of the bill. Many felons will be released early. Future felons will be given lighter sentences. That makes sense for many, but by no means should anyone in either of the two most dangerous groups receive sentence reductions, according to the letter to West.

My Take

Call me cynical, but lately I’ve changed my general rules regarding promises of politicians. It used to echo President Reagan’s stance on nuclear disarmament: “Trust but verify.” I now have to go with a more adversarial stance on political promises: “Show me proof, then we’ll talk.”

When the legislation is made available to the public, many will take a close look at it. I’ll personally be checking to see if there are any loopholes that would put violent offenders or criminal illegal immigrants back on the street sooner. If so, it’s a no-go for me.